Henin announces retirement from tennis

Justine Henin has today announced her retirement from tennis for a second time after admitting defeat in her bid to recover from an elbow injury.

The 28-year-old first quit the sport in 2008 when she was ranked number one in the world but had a change of heart the following year and returned to the WTA Tour in January 2010.

Henin reached the Australian Open final later that month but she missed the second half of the season after fracturing a ligament in her elbow at Wimbledon.

Today the Belgian revealed that injury has forced her to call time on her playing days for good.

She wrote in a letter on her website, www.justine-henin.be: "I'm in shock, of course. Even with the work of these past seven months, I had to understand that there might be a reason for all this.

"After having considered and followed the advice of doctors, it is now clear and I accept that my career here ... ... finally ends."